UNJUST that Carlisle man Alex Steventon has been punished for trying to relieve his back pain

It is totally UNJUST that Carlisle man Alex Steventon has been punished for trying to relieve his back pain ("Carlisle back-pain man grew cannabis for pain relief", News & Star, July 9).

Mr Steventon apparently grew cannabis at home and used it for pain relief in preference to the risky pain killers with possible dreadful side-effects, produced by the highly-profitable pharmaceutical companies.

Mr Steventon was fined £100 for the production offence and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £15 victim surcharge.

On top of everything else, despite the fact that he seemed not to have actually done any harm to anyone, he is made to pay a "victims surcharge" - it is Mr Steventon that is the victim of an unjust law.

Alun Buffry
Norwich

News and Star, Carlisle, July 9 2011
Carlisle back-pain man grew cannabis for pain relief

A Cumbrian man who suffered from rheumatism and back pain after a car crash started growing cannabis for pain relief.

City magistrates heard how 31-year-old Alex Steventon, of Carlisle, was in “severe and constant pain” after an accident in 2007 and prescribed medicine did not help.
Defence solicitor Geoff Clapp said Steventon, of Vasey Crescent, off Greystone Road, looked on the internet to see how to grow cannabis from seed.
“It was purely for medical use as pain relief,” Mr Clapp said.
Prosecutor Adrienne Harris said police went to Steventon’s home on June 24 on an unrelated matter but, when he answered the door, he asked them if they had “come about the cannabis”.
Officers found a room with specialised lighting and heating, plus drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty to the production of Class B drug cannabis, and possession of the drug when he appeared before magistrates.
Steventon was fined £100 for the production offence and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £15 victim surcharge. There was no separate penalty for possession.